WASHINGTON, D.C. — The grade schooler from Randolph County who lit up the 2023 Capitol Christmas Tree in the nation’s capitol Tuesday night said he found the whole experience “really exciting.”
Ethan Reese, a fourth-grader from Beverly Elementary School, won a statewide essay contest to earn the right to switch on the lights for the tree, which was harvested in the Monongahela National Forest in Randolph County earlier this month.
During Tuesday night’s ceremony, Reese was introduced as “the pride of West Virginia” by Mike Johnson, the U.S. Speaker of the House.
Speaking to The Inter-Mountain Wednesday morning, while still in D.C., Reese said Tuesday had been a big, hectic day for him, but stressed that he had fun.
“It was really exciting” to flick the switch to light up the tree, he said.
He noted that he had met many people in D.C., including Johnson and West Virginia’s senators, Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito. Reese even posed for photographs on the speaker’s balcony in the Capitol.
Reese said he and his family had traveled to Washington before but had never been to the Capitol.
On Wednesday morning, Manchin’s office had set up a tour for Ethan and his family of the Capitol and the Library of Congress.
Reese said he was excited about the tour and learning about history. He added that he was grateful for local residents being excited about him lighting the tree.
His mother, Amanda Reese, said, “I think it’s kicking in for him this morning. He kind of was like, ‘I did that last night! I lit the tree!'”
Ironically, the National Christmas Tree in front of the White House, which was also harvested in the Monongahela National Forest, fell down Tuesday afternoon amid high winter winds.
The tree, a 40-foot Norway spruce harvested near Parsons, had been planted just two weeks ago on the White House Ellipse, an area known as President’s Park. According to the National Park Service, it fell over around 1 p.m. Tuesday amid heavy wind gusts that reached as high at 46 mph at nearby Reagan National Airport.
NPS spokeswoman Jasmine Shanti said in an email that after “replacing a snapped cable,” the tree was back upright by 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The lighting of the tree is an annual White House holiday tradition with a countdown and musical performances. This year’s tree is a new one, replacing an older tree that, according to NPS, developed a fungal disease known as “needle cast” that caused its needles to turn brown and fall off.
The tree was scheduled to be lit today, but there was no indication from the White House whether Tuesday’s incident will delay that.